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Friday, 7 April 2017

What I Read In March

Another month gone and now we've reached April it must be time to tell you all about what I read in March. I'll admit a lot of the books this time round are more of the 'smutty' kind, more because they are so quick and easy to read and with my time taken up with parenting, working and course work I still like to get my book fix!

Dirty Sexy Inked by Carly Philips

Breaking hearts is what wild and rebellious Mason Kincaid does best. Hit it and quit it is his motto, and with his bad boy reputation and tattoos, he doesn't lack for female companionship. Until one hot night with the one woman he swore he'd never touch becomes an all consuming addiction he can't kick. Katrina Sands has been his best friend for years, but now that he knows what she feels like, and tastes like, there is no going back to being just friends. Hot, dirty sex has never felt so good...or so right.

This was a nice easy read, ok it didn't blow my socks off but it's nice to enjoy something fairly uncomplicated at times. I marked it down because for me it all felt a little bit rushed, it could have done with more detail in some places and less in others. But overall it hit that reading itch nicely.

Body of Evidence by Rachel Grant

When archaeologist Mara Garrett traveled to North Korea to retrieve the remains of GIs lost in combat, she never imagined she’d be arrested, convicted of spying, and sentenced to death. Her only hope is Curt Dominick, the powerful, ambitious, and infuriatingly sexy US attorney prosecuting her uncle, a former vice president of the United States.

What starts off as a rescue mission quickly morphs into a race across the Pacific. Someone is after Mara, and they’ll risk everything to stop her from reaching Washington DC. With betrayal around every corner, Curt and Mara have little reason to trust each other and every reason to deny the sparks between them that blaze hotter than the Hawaiian sun. Still, desire clashes with loyalty when they discover a conspiracy that threatens not only their lives but the national security of the United States.

This was a surprisingly good find. I got Body of Evidence when it became available for free on Kindle, having never tried this author before I was intrigued by the blurb and what I discovered once reading was an intense yet sexy read. A plot line that actually kept me guessing for quite a while and what was nice was that the romance element didn't distract from the overriding plot line, it had action as well as love.

Till Death by Jennifer L Armentrout

It’s been ten years since Sasha Keaton left her West Virginia hometown . . . since she escaped the twisted serial killer known as the Groom. Returning to help run her family inn means being whole again, except for one missing piece. The piece that falls into place when Sasha’s threatened—and FBI agent Cole Landis vows to protect her the way he couldn’t a decade ago.

First one woman disappears; then another, and all the while, disturbing calling cards are left for the sole survivor of the Groom’s reign of terror. Cole’s never forgiven himself for not being there when Sasha was taken, but he intends to make up for it now . . . because under the quirky sexiness Cole first fell for is a steely strength that only makes him love Sasha more.

But someone is watching. Waiting. And Sasha’s first mistake could be her last.

I chose this as my book of the month so you can read the full review here, lets just say it was a great mix of two genres, thriller and romance.

Long by B.B. Hamel

I’m having that cocky jock’s baby, but he won’t have me.

Gibson Evans is the best college football quarterback in the country. He’s tall, broad, tattooed, and so incredibly handsome.

And he got me pregnant. It was supposed to be just one night, but a broken condom changed all of our plans forever.

People treat him like a hero, but I think he’s a total prick. Gibson gets whatever he wants, and now suddenly he wants me.

But I have enough to deal with. I have to stop daydreaming about his hands between my thighs and concentrate on having this baby while still managing to graduate on time.

He wants to make a deal. If I promise to spend time with him, he’ll help me with my final biology research. That means an entire semester of studying Gibson’s body.

I’m not sure I can do this. One second I can’t stand to be around him, and the next I’m touching his ripped muscles and trying to suppress my excitement.

I’m terrified he’ll ruin everything if I let this become more than just work.

I hate to say it but this story was cheesy as hell, felt completely rushed and missed any detail to actually make you connect with the characters. Not one I'd be recommending to others at all.

Challenge by Amy Daws

He’s her patient. She’s his doctor. They shouldn’t. But God, do they want to.

Camden Harris, the famously hot, hulk of a footballer is laid up in a London hospital. But his busted knee doesn’t stop him from running his well-practiced game on Indie Porter—his redheaded spitfire of a doctor. She’s not his type, not even close. But she could be the perfect distraction from the soul-crushing damage this injury could cost him.

Indie’s tired of her naivety putting a target on her back. As a gifted child, she’s let her education take the front seat her whole life. But a fling with a footballer like Camden might be just what she needs to grab life by the balls.

And he could be the perfect guy for the plan she’s been sitting on for over two years.

But when feelings make a final play, there’s no amount of medicine that can heal the damage to their hearts.

This was a real light hearted read, easy to follow and rather entertaining with witty lines mixed in with a lusty love story.

Preston's Honor by Mia Sheridan

There were two brothers—identical twins—and though I loved them both, my soul belonged to only one.

Annalia Del Valle has loved Preston Sawyer all her life. The daughter of an impoverished migrant farmworker, she grew up as an outcast in what was no more than a tiny, cooped up shack in California’s Central Valley. But her heart found freedom in the land, in the wide-open spaces of Sawyer Farm, and in the boys who were her only friends.

Preston has yearned for Annalia since he was a boy. But a sense of honor kept him from pursuing her until he’s unable to hold back any longer and their worlds—and bodies—collide one hot summer night. A night that sets off a chain of events that will alter their lives forever.

Now Annalia is back in town after disappearing without a trace for six long months. Determined to reclaim her heart, her life, and the baby she left behind—the son who was created in a moment of lust and love and pent-up yearning.

Preston has survived grief, a ravaging drought, and the despair of heartache, but he’s not sure he can survive Annalia again. And he might be unwilling to try. Will pride and bitterness keep him from the one thing he’s always longed for?

How do you heal what is irreparably broken? How do you forgive that which is unforgivable? How do you discover that real honor comes not from circumstance, but from the place deep in our hearts where truth resides? And how do you move beyond the wounds of the past to discover that some loves are as solid as the ground beneath your feet, and as enduring as the earth itself?

I adore Mia Sheridan's writing and Preston's Honor was no different. Filled with an abundance of emotion, a story line that tugged at the heart strings and a cast of characters that you felt a real connection to. Preston and Cole Sawyer are identical twins and they both adore one girl, Lia but Lia only has true feelings for one of the them .... so how does she end up with the other one?

The tale spans over many years and I really liked this, it set the stage, added in important details and led you to why things had turned out as they had. Can one moment change so much?

What Preston and Lia come to realise is that love although powerful is something to both be earned and continually worked on, but it knows no boundaries.

Heartbreakingly beautiful, this is a story of love, loss and friendship and I think it goes to show that a little communication goes a long way!

More Things in Heaven and Earth by E.A. Comiskey

For years, Simone Fitzgerald has battled to live a normal life, despite the multitude of voices she constantly hears.

It seems she's succeeding, until an angel appears and asks her to embrace her gifts and stand as a prophet.

When demon forces mobilize the creatures of legend against mankind, and the wrath of The Creator burns hot against creation, is one mom strong enough to embrace the light and bring peace to the universe, or will she be crushed under the weight of the burden she's been asked to bear?

This book I think mixes spiritual and paranormal, I'll admit I struggled to get into this one but overall it was a book to really get you thinking about the world we live in.

Hate F*@k by Ainsley Booth

Cole:

I push her buttons. I want to push them in the good way. Dirty, up-against-the-wall, my-hand-in-her-pants kind of way.

But that’s not possible, because I’m dark and she’s light, and we both know it.

So I push her buttons in the bad way, making her hate me.

Hailey:

If a genie granted me three wishes, I’d ask for Cole Parker to never look at me again, that I’d forget the dark promise in his eyes, and that just once, before he vanished from my life completely, that he’d push me up against a wall and make me scream.

Then I’d go wash my mouth out with soap.

Ok this one was quite crude even for me and felt like it needed a lot of editing, it jumped from place to place and sometimes it didn't make complete sense, glad it was a freebie on a kindle.

Lost for Words by Stephanie Butland

Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look closely, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin. But there are things she'll never show you.

Fifteen years ago Loveday lost all she knew and loved in one unspeakable night. Now, she finds refuge in the unique little York bookshop where she works.

Everything is about to change for Loveday. Someone knows about her past. Someone is trying to send her a message. And she can't hide any longer.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review and I'm giving this book the 5 stars that it deserves. I'll admit what appealed to me first was the front cover and then the blurb drew me in further. Being the book lover that I am the whole premise really called to me.

Loveday is a strong protagonist and what is most appealing is that she is quirky and not afraid to be so. Her story captured my hurt and the mystery that grew over the pages had me turning the pages at a rapid rate.

The story goes from past to present and builds quite a vivd picture of how Loveday grew to be the woman she is today and the cast of characters that come into Loveday's life are a big part of what makes this book so good.

This is a novel that is quite simply beautiful. It is honest, it is raw, utterly moving and the use of poetry within just adds something quite special to the story. Just goes to show how powerful books really can be.

Coffin Road by Peter MayA man is washed up on a deserted beach on the Hebridean Isle of Harris, barely alive and borderline hypothermic. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. The only clue to his identity is a map tracing a track called the Coffin Road. He does not know where it will lead him, but filled with dread, fear and uncertainty he knows he must follow it.A detective crosses rough Atlantic seas to a remote rock twenty miles west of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With a sense of foreboding he steps ashore where three lighthouse keepers disappeared more than a century before - a mystery that remains unsolved. But now there is a new mystery - a man found bludgeoned to death on that same rock, and DS George Gunn must find out who did it and why.

A teenage girl lies in her Edinburgh bedroom, desperate to discover the truth about her father's death. Two years after the discovery of the pioneering scientist's suicide note, Karen Fleming still cannot accept that he would willfully abandon her. And the more she discovers about the nature of his research, the more she suspects that others were behind his disappearance.

A man finds himself waking up on the beach, drenched and without his memory, just who is he and how did he end up there?

What follows is a tale that is quite the page turner, every time you thought a piece of the puzzle was slotting in, it was found to be misshapen and not quite fitting in. Memories are blurry and certain discoveries prove somewhat pointless.

This book was very cleverly written, a real air of mystery about it and such twists and turns that you were kept in the dark for most of the book as to who the man who'd washed up on the beach really was.....

I'm always on the hunt for book recommendations so if you have any suggestions for what I should be reading this month please do tell me in the comments below.

6 comments:

Wow, that's a lot of books in one month! There is a definite theme going on here! I will be steering clear of anything with too much sex in it, but I definitely like the sound of Till Death and Preston's Honour.

Wow! You manage to read so many books! I'm in a bit of a reading slump at the moment but I think that's pretty understandable with a baby on the way. Hope I'll find some energy to pick up a good read again soon! #readdwithme

Always in awe of how many books you manage to read especially with how busy you must be! Great honest reviews about all these titles. I've just started reading Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo. #readwithme